1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a softener composition for fabrics, which composition has excellent softening and antistatic effects to various fibers and has a good dispersibility.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most of the current commercially available fabric softeners for ordinary household use are compositions comprising, as a main ingredient, a quaternary ammonium salt having in the molecule 1 or 2 long-chain alkyl groups. Such quaternary ammonium salts exert a very high softening effect to cotton fibers even when used in a small amount. Recently, in households, the proportion of synthetic fibers in cloth materials has rapidly increased. However, clothes containing synthetic fibers become hard when they are repeatedly worn and washed, and they are readily electrostatically charged. Therefore, they should be subjected to softening and antistatic treatments.
Quaternary ammonium salts of the type mentioned above have a very high softening effect to cotton fibers but it cannot be said that they are completely satisfactory in both the softening and antistatic effects to synthetic fibers. Among industrial fabric softeners, which are not used in ordinary households, there are only a few softeners which are satisfactory in both the softening and antistatic effects to synthetic fibers. Accordingly, in general, there are used for treating fabrics containing synthetic fibers fabric softener compositions comprising the combination of agents possessing an excellent softening effect and agents possessing an excellent antistatic effect. Further, agents which possess both satisfactory softening and antistatic effects to synthetic fibers must be employed at a very high concentration and therefore, they are not suitable as active ingredients of fabric softener compositions for ordinary household use. Moreover, these softeners for synthetic fibers are inferior in the softening effect to cotton fibers.
As will be apparent from the foregoing description, there has not been developed a household fabric softener having a high softening effect to various types of fibers, both natural and synthetic, and which imparts an excellent antistatic effect to synthetic fibers.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a fabric softener composition having a high softening effect to cotton as good as the softening effect of conventional fabric softeners used in household fabric softening treatments, and also having much higher softening and antistatic effects to synthetic fibers than conventional fabric softeners.